GUIDE: How to install Windows 7 or 8 via USB on NP700Z*

This guide was first inspired by: How to do a clean install of Windows 7 or 8 on Samsung Chronos laptops | Arktronic.comThis guide may work with other Samsung Series 3, 5, 7, and 9 laptops with iSSD/ExpressCache as well. Give it a try and report back. I will add to this list: - NP700Z5C-S01US - NP530U3C The ProblemYou installed Windows 7 or 8 on this nice laptop via a bootable USB drive, but Windows won't load up. What gives? My theory (after testing over and over) is that the iSSD gets in the way of the installation process. While Microsoft is to be blamed for not letting us choose where to install "system reserved" files to during the installation, Samsung is to be blamed for adding another layer to that with the iSSD. Normally, when you install Windows on a partition of a drive, the "system reserved" files are created automatically on a new partition on the same drive of the OS. With the iSSD in the game, the "system reserved" files are created on there instead. When booting up, the system cannot find Windows because it cannot boot up from the iSSD. So my solution is to do just that, but then copy the "system reserved" files to its proper location afterward. The process goes like this. Create two partitions on a drive (Drive A), one for the "system reserved" files and the other for the OS. Install Windows on the OS partition and the "system reserved" files will be written on the iSSD (Drive B). Use the command line to copy over the "system reserved" files from Drive B to Drive A's "system reserved" partition. Restart and the laptop should boot up from Drive A. If you are in any of these situations, then this guide may be for you:

I installed a HDD caddy in place of the ODD (DVD drive) and don't have a DVD drive to install Windows with. So my only option is to install via a bootable USB drive. But it won't work--Windows does not boot up on my HDD.

I tried installing a fresh Windows 7 or 8 with a USB bootable drive and got an infinite boot loop after Windows installed (restarts after Samsung logo)

This guide assumes you have a main hard drive (HDD or SSD) and the iSSD on board. This guide also assumes that you do not have a DVD drive available and booting from a USB bootable drive. WARNING: By following this guide, you take full responsibility for any action you perform to your laptop. I take no liability for your own actions or damage caused here within. Guide/How To

Turn the laptop on and press F2 key to go into BIOS menu. Turn off Fast BIOS Mode under Advanced tab. Everything else can be set to their defaults. Make sure your boot order is set correctly (SATA HDD [your main HDD] first, USB HDD [bootable USB drive] second). Exit and save changes. Laptop will restart.

On restart, press F10 (repeatedly) to go to the Boot Menu and boot the USB HDD drive and begin Windows installation process.

On the partition window, you should have a list of all drives/partitions. Drive 0 should be your main hard drive for the OS. Drive 1 should be your ExpressCache's iSSD drive. All others are other drives you have connected. We will only focus on Drive 0 and 1 in this guide.

Delete partition(s) on Drive 0 that you don't need (I delete all partitions for simplicity). Delete Drive 1 partition. So now yours should look something like this:

Create a new 100MB (for Win7) or 350MB (for Win8) partition on Drive 0. Then format it. Now you should have the following (we are going to assume this setup for the rest of the tutorial): Drive 0 Partition 1........................350MB (for Win8) Drive 0 Partition 2........................Windows OS (sizes will vary depending on your HDD) Drive 1 Unallocated Space..................iSSD drive (7.5GB on my NP700Z5C)

Install Windows onto Drive 0 Partition 2. In the process, Windows will install the "system reserved" files onto the Drive 1 (iSSD). After installation the system should restart.

Once again, press F10 and boot from the USB HDD drive to begin Windows installation process.

This time, use the Repair your computer function and get to the command prompt.

Once in command prompt, type diskpart to enter the disk partition mode.

Code:

X:\Sources> diskpart

Enter list disk to list all disks on the system. We are interested in the Disk 0 (HDD) and Disk 1 (iSSD) only.

Code:

DISKPART> list disk

Enter sel disk 0 to select disk 0 so you can make changes to it.

Code:

DISKPART> sel disk 0

Enter list part. You should see two partitions of interest: Partition 1 (350MB) and Partition 2 (Windows OS).

Code:

DISKPART> list part

Select Partition 1 by using sel part 1. Then make it active by entering the command active.

Code:

DISKPART> sel part 1
DISKPART> active

List all volumes by using list vol. Take note of the drive letter for your 350MB partition (mine was C), the temporary iSSD's 350MB partition (mine was D), and your Windows OS partition (mine was F).

Code:

DISKPART> list vol

It should look similar to this. Sorry for the blurry photo!

Exit diskpart by typing in exit.

Code:

DISKPART> exit

Now you want to copy the system reserved files from the temporary iSSD's partition over to the 350MB partition. Type in bcdboot f:\windows /s c:. You should get a "Boot files successfully created" prompt if successful.

ExtrasOnce in Windows, you should see two drives of interest:
- Local Disk [C:]
- System Reserved [D:] <--this is the iSSD system reserved partition. We want to remove this.
Run diskmgmt.mscRight click on the System Reserved [D:] and delete volume. You may do whatever you like with it now (enable ExpressCache on it, use as storage, etc.).
I hope this guide was easy to follow and helpful in some way. Please let me know if you have questions by posting below. Have a good day!